1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention described herein pertain to the field of computer systems. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, one or more embodiments of the invention enable an apparatus, system and method for an electronic poker game variation.
2. Description of the Related Art
The origins of American poker have been traced back to the early nineteenth century in the New Orleans and Mississippi regions. Although earlier influences on the game of poker are a subject of some debate, poker closely resembles the seventeenth century Persian game of As Nas. Today there are many varieties of the game of poker, such as five card draw, seven card stud and Texas hold 'em. Since the origination of the standard game, many variations on the game of poker have been patented.
The standard game of five card draw poker is generally played as illustrated in FIG. 1. First, a player places a wager, purchases entry into the game or antes at step 101. The wager may be used to create a jackpot split between the winner or winners and the house. At step 103 the player randomly receives five initial playing cards from a standard fifty-two card deck. The cards a player receives are often termed his “hand.” A typical card is illustrated in FIG. 2. Each playing card contains suit 201, which may be hearts, diamonds, spades or clubs, and symbol 203. In FIG. 2, for example, suit 201 of playing card 200 is the suit of clubs. Symbol 203 may be a number or a letter. In the standard game, the potential numbers which may be assigned to symbol 203 range from two to ten, inclusive. The potential letters which may be assigned to symbol 203 are J, Q, K or A which represent a jack, queen, king and ace respectively. In FIG. 2, for example, symbol 203 on playing card 200 is the number “2.” Each combination of suit 201 and symbol 203 can only occur once in a fifty-two card deck of cards. Therefore, a standard deck will contain thirteen cards containing a suit of hearts: the cards with the numbers two through ten of hearts, in addition to a jack, queen, king, and ace of hearts. The same is true for the remaining three suits of diamonds, spades and clubs. In a fifty-two card game, there are 2,598,960 different initial five-card hands possible.
At step 105, the player reviews his cards and determines which cards he or she would like to keep and how many cards he or she would like to discard. In step 107, the unselected cards are discarded and the player then receives new cards to replace any cards that have been discarded. For example, a player may choose to keep three of his or her five initial cards. The remaining two cards are discarded and the player receives two new cards in their place, such that five cards remain in the player's hand. Traditionally, in a multi-player game, a player may have the opportunity to increase his or her bet after steps 103 and 107.
At step 109, the cards in the player's hand are checked to see if the hand is a winner. To determine if a hand is a winner the hand is checked to see if it matches any of a predetermined set of winning hands. For example, a hand containing three cards having the same symbol 203, e.g., a “2,” such as the two of diamonds, two of clubs and two of spades, may be a winning hand. The various winning hands in the set of winning hands may have different payout amounts or payout percentages, and different variations of the game may have different winning hands.
Traditionally, in a multi-player game, the player with the highest value winning hand wins at step 111 and may receive the jackpot, thereby ending the game at step 113. Alternatively, in some standard electronic poker games, a player holding any one of several predetermined winning hands may be a winner at step 111 and receive the corresponding payout. If no one wins, at step 111, the game ends at step 113 and the jackpot rolls over (or accrues to the house) and a new game may begin.
There is a continuing commercial need for new and exciting electronic poker games that provide second chance games that will encourage players to continue to patronize poker providers. For at least the limitations described above there is a need for an apparatus, system and method for new forms of second chance electronic poker games.